by David Tesitor
La Veta- The Thunderbirds of Sangre De Cristo, ranked seventh in last week’s Pueblo Chieftain girls 2A high school polls, traveled over La Veta pass on Dec. 13 to hand the Lady Redskins their first loss of the season, 46-31. A strong T-Bird defense, led by 6’2”senior forward, Brittany Brown contained La Veta’s Shea Brgoch to a season low five points. On the other side of the ball, Brgoch could not contain Brown, who led all scores with 17. The Lady Skins were never really in this game, trailing by the end of the 1st quarter 13-9. Several traveling violations and turnovers kept the ball out of Kyndal Alvarez’s hands throughout the first half.
The third quarter was a defensive struggle as both teams seemed to have trouble getting off their shots. By the middle of the quarter it looked as though the Lady Skins would mount a come back on an Emily Moll steal which put the hometown girls down by two. That was as close as they got to the T-Birds. The opponents came roaring back with fast breaks and excellent shooting in the fourth. Sangre De Cristo pulled ahead, outscoring the Redskins 14-7 in the final quarter for the win. Alvarez led the Skins in scoring with seven, followed by Carlee Koutnik with six.
The Lady Skins played an exceptional game, but that night it was not meant to be. The T-Birds were a better team and showed the La Veta crowd why they are highly ranked. The girls will continue their quest for a state championship on Jan. 11, 2008 when they travel to Sierra Grande.
